Islam Ali was just one friendly welcomer
It takes months of careful planning and dedicated
organisation to create an event of this type so all of us at
Together for Sudan were very grateful to have the assistance of
Vanessa Patey and Christine Green with this task. Their input
meant that things grew quickly from simple ideas to practical
action which follows in the best traditions of all that we do.
The venue was Lambeth Palace, by kind permission of Archbishop Rowan
Williams, one of our many Patrons. His generosity was reinforced by the
efficiency of Amy Wilson, the Lambeth events coordinator and all the staff at
Lambeth Palace as well as the small army of volunteer helpers who gave their
time to this event. It was a real pleasure to leave the noise of central London
outside and to receive a warm and friendly greeting on entering Lambeth Palace
for the auction.
It should be noted that the auction did not actually start at Lambeth
Palace. As an organisation that is keen to reach out and connect with its
supporters, we had made all of the twenty five excellent auction items
available for online bidding prior to the event. So as the first drinks were
shared out and people started to mingle and chat, bids had already been made by
people who for one reason or another were unable to attend in person.
The Sudanese ambassador stood between Mr Alan Goulty TfS
Secretary on his right and Mr John Udal
The hall filled quickly with a real mixture of people
reflecting the popular and cross cultural appeal of the
important work that Together for Sudan does. We were honored to
be joined by the Ambassador of Sudan and were pleased to make
him welcome. Close to a hundred and twenty people attended in
all including representatives of other Sudan aligned
organisations as well as a gratifying number of friends and
supporters. It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to warm up so
that due quiet had to be called for, when the barbershop came to
sing.
Mark Pellew’s Barbershop septet was excellent and provided three very
entertaining and humorous songs. With great skill they manipulated their a
capella style captivating their audience and drawing them in to each song.
Their superb performance was applauded loudly by all there.
Director Lillian Craig Harris spoke
Lillian Craig Harris, the Director of Together for Sudan, spoke
next to remind those gathered of the reasons that made the
auction necessary and thanking everyone involved for their
kindness.Lillian’s speech is available here to read for yourself.
It’s a sad truth that the needs of the Sudanese people,
especially those of the Nuba Mountains have not diminished and
that education remains the only clear way to provide sustainable
capacity for a peaceful future that benefits all. Since its
inception Together for Sudan has always aimed to provide simple
practical solutions to the serious needs that Sudanese women
tell us they have. Every single donation is stretched to extract
the most goodness from it.
Auctioneer Mr Peter Arbuthnot
Lillian’s words were applauded and then the
bidding began courtesy of Mr Peter Arbuthnot a distinguished
professional auctioneer who had kindly offered us his services.
His swift and friendly rapport with the bidders soon whipped up
bidding interest and made the proceedings lively, jovial and
competitive.
Cheerfully pitting bidders against one another, Mr Arbuthnot
skilfully built up the bid price on each item before letting it
go in a loud whack of his gavel.
Several items were fought over with bids passing through
the air in rapid succession.
Thanks to his professional skill quite a few bids rose in
value to well over the original estimates. Many thanks to Peter
for that.
Undoubtedly many of the lots on offer were a bargain at any price. One
particular lot, a tour of Cambridge with tea, proved so popular it was sold
to several people! No lots were left unsold and all raised a healthy sum.
With the bidding closed and all the lots
allocated it was time again for some more from the Barbershop
septet. Their excellent singing rounded the evening off well and
left people in high spirits. There were conversations to have
and new acquaintances exchanged addresses but then the event was
over. Gradually the hall emptied and things were tidied away by
those who had come to help.
Dr Olobo Lalobo was very pleased with his jars of honey
As an event the auction was great success
on several levels. Around
£8500 was raised which will be wrung, squeezed and stretched in
Sudan to provide education and care through our project work.
But more than that, the needs of so many were placed in the
public view and shared out, too often the plight of Sudanese
women is ignored by news agencies. Good friends met and renewed
acquaintances while at the same new friendships were formed and
the circle of Together for Sudan supporters expanded a little
further.
Our thanks thanks to Vanessa Patey who
chaired the organising committee for the event, which comprised
Christine Green, Norman Swanney, Adrian Thomas and Dave Lewis who gave much time and effort to arrange every detail so
well. We also thank all those who
gave their free time to help on the evening not
forgetting the excellent Peter Arbuthnot and the Barbershop
septet. We are tremendously grateful to all the people who
graciously gave auction items and also for those who bid so
generously. Thank you all
very much.
See more images of the event on our
facebook page or click here
to see an online gallery